Eldritch Assassin: Reincarnated With An SSS-Rank Devouring System
Chapter 116: Marsh Serpents

Chapter 116: Marsh Serpents

Kael surged forward, Abyssal Fang piercing the assassin’s gut, the Silver Lotus Flame erupting on contact, its purifying light searing through their meridians.

The assassin gurgled, their robes smoldering as they collapsed, smoke rising from the wound, their qi dissipating into the fog.

"Humph!," Kael snorted, his gaze cold, his Crescent Requiem Dao guiding his next move with lethal precision.

The remaining two assassins hesitated, their synchronized rhythm shattered, their auras wavering under the weight of Kael’s resolve. That moment of doubt was all he needed.

He struck the first with a flurry of slashes, Abyssal Fang weaving through their guard, forcing a desperate parry that left them open. The second turned to flee, their qi cloaking their form in shadow, but Kael was faster.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed Abyssal Fang like a javelin, the blade glowing with a comet’s radiance as it pierced the assassin’s back.

The body collapsed, twitching once before falling still, the marsh’s fog swallowing the sound of their demise.

Kael retrieved his blade in silence, his breath steady despite the blood dripping from his cheek. Only one assassin remained, their mask cracked, revealing half a face—young, no older than Kael, their eyes wide with a mix of fear and fanaticism.

"You’re too dangerous," the assassin whispered, their voice trembling, their qi fluctuating wildly. "The Lotus... you shouldn’t exist."

Kael stepped forward, his aura a quiet storm, his silver eyes unyielding. The assassin raised their blade in desperation, a futile gesture against the Warden of the Lotus. Kael’s movement blurred, a flash of silver light slicing through the air, followed by a scream that faded into silence.

The fog grew heavier as if mourning the fallen, the marsh’s miasma thickening around Kael’s blood-stained robes. He stood alone, his breath steady, his qi stabilizing despite the strain of battle.

Without a word, he carved a symbol into the bark of a nearby tree—a crescent moon intersecting a lotus; its lines imbued with a trace of Silver Lotus Flame, a ward, and a warning to any who dared follow.

---

Hours later, Kael found refuge in a cave tucked beneath the roots of a crooked tree, its mouth half-submerged in stagnant water. He ignited a faint Silver Lotus Flame, its light just enough to ward off the damp cold, its spiritual resonance purifying the cave’s corrupted qi.

Sitting cross-legged, he breathed slowly, cycling his qi to stabilize his meridians, his Crescent Requiem Dao guiding the flow with precision.

The wound on his cheek had begun to close, its edges knitting under the influence of his healing pills. The cut on his leg, deeper and more stubborn, no longer bled, sealed with a paste of ground herbs from his satchel, their faint spiritual essence aiding his recovery.

Kael applied the paste without flinching, his focus inward, his spiritual senses attuned to the crimson mark on his forearm.

The mark pulsed, its rhythm syncing with his heartbeat, a quiet awareness that seemed to watch him. "You’re drawing them in," Kael murmured, his voice low, addressing the shard as if it could hear. "Assassins, sects, cultivators hungry for power."

The mark didn’t respond, but its pulse slowed, a subtle acknowledgment of his words. Kael stared at it, his Silver Lotus Flame flaring faintly in his dantian, its light illuminating the shard’s enigma.

The Forbidden Lotus was no mere weapon—it was a curse, a key, and perhaps a lock, a relic whose purpose eluded him but whose weight he could not ignore.

Each pulse of the mark was a summons, a challenge to those who sought to claim its power, and Kael, as its warden, was both its guardian and its target.

A rustle broke the silence, followed by a faint splash at the cave’s entrance. Kael tensed, his hand reaching for Abyssal Fang, his aura spiking with readiness.

The water near the cave’s mouth stirred a subtle ripple that broke the oppressive stillness of the Deadflame Marsh. Kael froze, his body tensing not from fear but from instinct honed by countless battles, his spiritual senses flaring like a beacon in the fog.

The ripples weren’t born of wind or dripping moss—they were too precise, too deliberate, a quiet disturbance in the marsh’s corrupted qi that set his meridians humming.

The Silver Lotus Flame within his dantian pulsed softly, its purified light casting a faint glow through his robes, a silent ward against the miasma that clung to the air like a shroud.

Plop!

A bubble burst on the water’s surface, followed by another, their rhythm unnatural, a prelude to something ancient and ravenous. Silence descended, heavy and expectant, the marsh holding its breath.

Kael’s silver eyes narrowed, his hand moving soundlessly to draw Abyssal Fang, the blade’s spiritual essence resonating with his intent, its edge gleaming faintly in the dim light of his Lotus Flame.

His Crescent Requiem Dao sharpened his perception, attuning him to the subtle shifts in the marsh’s qi flow, a rhythm that whispered of danger lurking beneath the surface.

The murky water exploded, a massive maw surging from the depths, rows of needle-like teeth glinting with a venomous sheen under the flickering Silver Lotus Flame.

The beast’s jaw slammed shut where Kael had been moments before, its force shaking the cave, mud and water splashing against the stone walls in a chaotic deluge.

Kael had already moved, rolling backward with the grace of a shadow, Abyssal Fang raised in a defensive arc, his qi condensed beneath his feet to cushion the impact.

The cave trembled, roots above creaking ominously, as another beast erupted from the ground to his left—a serpent-like creature, its sinuous body clad in algae-slick scales that shimmered green-blue, reflecting the marsh’s poisoned essence. Its yellow eyes glowed with predatory focus, their light piercing the fog, locked solely on Kael.

From the opposite side of the pool, a third creature surfaced, its bulk dwarfing the others, its head armored with jagged plates, its fins honed like celestial blades. Its aura pulsed with a primal ferocity, its qi warped by the marsh’s corruption, a guardian born of the land’s ancient wrath.

"Three of you," Kael muttered, his voice calm, a quiet vow amidst the chaos, his dantian surging with resolve.

The marsh had sent its sentinels, drawn by the Forbidden Lotus’s radiant lure, its crimson mark on his forearm pulsing like a second heartbeat, a beacon that stirred the wilds.

Kael’s aura exploded outward, a torrent of spiritual pressure that shook water droplets from his tattered robes, scattering the miasma in a radiant burst.

The Silver Lotus Flame erupted along Abyssal Fang’s edge, its silver-violet light hissing and snapping, a manifestation of his purified Dao that burned with defiance.

His Silent Eclipse cloaked his movements, a shadow within a shadow, as he prepared to meet the marsh’s wrath.

The first beast lunged, its maw gaping, its qi-infused bite aimed to crush bone and spirit alike. Kael vanished, his Crescent Requiem footwork propelling him above the creature’s snout in a blur of motion.

With a single, precise slash, Abyssal Fang carved through its top jaw, slicing into its skull, the Silver Lotus Flame searing the wound with purifying light.

The beast howled, a sound that shook the cave’s roots, its blood steaming as it flailed backward, its qi disrupted by the flame’s cleansing force.

The serpent-like beast struck from the shadows, its mouth agape, its fangs dripping with venomous qi. Kael twisted midair, his blade meeting its fangs in a clash that echoed like thunder, sparks cascading through the fog, teeth shattering under the force of his strike.

He landed on the creature’s back, his qi anchoring him as he sprinted along its spine, his foot crashing down with a pulse of Earth Dao, cracking a vertebra with a sickening snap.

With a vicious spin, he drove Abyssal Fang into the base of its skull, the Lotus Flame erupting within, silencing the beast’s shriek as its body went limp.

Two down, but the marsh’s wrath was far from spent. The largest beast, a leviathan of scale and fury, rose from the water, its eight-meter form a towering silhouette against the cave’s dim light.

A thick fin split its back, its mouth wide enough to swallow a carriage, its clawed limbs dripping with swamp gunk, each claw infused with a corrosive qi that warped the air. Its aura was a tidal wave, its presence a manifestation of the marsh’s ancient will.

Kael’s aura flared brighter, the crimson mark on his forearm pulsing in sync with his dantian, its warmth a quiet challenge. "Then come," he whispered, his voice a vow to the heavens, his Silver Lotus Flame burning with unyielding resolve.

The beast roared, its cry a primal force that shook the cave, summoning a tidal wave of water that surged through the narrow mouth, a deluge infused with the marsh’s corrupted qi.

Kael didn’t retreat—he dashed into it, his feet striking the surface with condensed qi, each step a ripple of spiritual force that defied the wave’s pull.

His Crescent Requiem Dao guided his movements, Abyssal Fang cutting downward, splitting the water to reveal the beast’s glowing eye beneath.